Sony is reportedly killing its Xperia Z line of smartphones

Sony has a lot of ‘Z’ phones. Starting with the original Xperia Z1 in 2013 and ending with the current Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium, the company has released over two Z phones per year, most of them high-end models. But now it’s look like the company is planning to end the line.

When asked about when we’d see a new Xperia Z phone, a Sony Mobile marketing manager told uSwitch that “I can’t comment on the future, but we will not be releasing a Z6.” He then reiterated that statement, and said Sony would be “turning to the next stage, with the Xperia X series.”

If you haven’t been keeping up with this week’s Mobile World Congress news, the X series is Sony’s latest line of devices. They’re not radical departures from the Z line, but they refine the design with more metal, especially on the top-of-the-line X Performance model. That one seems particularly poised to replace the Z line, given it comes with top-notch specs like a Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM.

Credit: Sony Mobile

It’s hard to say whether moving two letters up the alphabet will be enough to help Sony pick up some steam in the mobile market. Still, it’s a sign that the company is rethinking its product strategy; that might mean a slower release cycle or more marketing investment, especially in places like the US where its phone sales are fairly low.

We’ve contacted Sony for more information and will update this post if we hear back.